Thread: Red VS Green Coolant again!!!

Been a while .... I'm about 65,000km on and all is well. I changed the radiator due to breaking the small retun spigot near the top radiator hose maybe last August. Radiator was 10yrs old, and been running OAT since I've owned it, and it had red (assume OAT) in it when I bought it.

The old radiator is spotless inside (as best as I can see). All the internal galleries I could see into in the engine are as clean as a whistle. A mechanic mate who helped me commented on how clean the cooling system was! ... Yes, still running Nulon OAT mixed 50/50 with tap water .... Yeah, yeah, I know ... Should be distilled/demineralized .... But works for me ... 6 years roughly and all is good ... YMMV

I'll see how I'm traveling when someone dredges this thread up in another 6 years

Wow no one has mentioned anything about the conductivity in green coolant and alloy engines. Oat coolant is better at stopping voltage through the system . electrolysis + alloy = not good . Maybe why my rover v8s running glycol green coolant always had white chalky crap around the hoses .

The water pump in my Tdi lasted 17 years and my radiator is still going strong after 18 years running Glycol,show me a system running OAT that matches that and I'll listen to what you say. Pat

Originally Posted by defmec

Wow no one has mentioned anything about the conductivity in green coolant and alloy engines. Oat coolant is better at stopping voltage through the system . electrolysis + alloy = not good . Maybe why my rover v8s running glycol green coolant always had white chalky crap around the hoses .

I remember the debate about positive versus negative earth and car body corrosion. I don't think either side won, although most cars these days are negative earth.. Electrolysis + steel. Who knows? As that bozo from the IPCC used to say, Voodoo Science.
Not saying you're wrong; rather, I'm saying there has to be a limit somewhere. Nothing lasts forever.
I'd be very interested in reading anything on conductivity in coolants if you have any links. I used to come down on the positive earth side of that old argument. I wouldn't mind having another look.

Pat your tdi would have a copper radiator. The d2 has alloy. Cheers

Originally Posted by PAT303

The water pump in my Tdi lasted 17 years and my radiator is still going strong after 18 years running Glycol,show me a system running OAT that matches that and I'll listen to what you say. Pat

Only 3 years to go on my td5 till its 17 years old .original water pump and radiator . I just replaced the top hose and couldn't believe how clean the inlet to the head was .

My Tdi was 11 years on Land Rover/Caltex/Dexcool OAT (from the factory ! It was the last of the Tdi's) and for the last five years on Cummins-Fleetguard HOAT and the core was still fine and clean and leak free until I had it re-cored with a HD Redback core this year.

Ok, I'm on my second water pump, I'd have to go back through the forum to see when the original went, I think it was around the 250,000km mark where the bearing failed, not the seal.

Re stray current, nothing will save aluminum from it, nothing.

If you have a bad earth and the electrical system uses your cooling system as a circuit it can corrode through a radiator in a matter of weeks or days, so I've been told.

I've lost two Patrol radiators to it, both times was a dodgy earth connection on the battery.